DirectionsPlace the bacon in a large stockpot and cook over medium-high heat until crispy, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and garlic. Stir and cook until the onions become translucent and carmelizes; about 10 minutes.
Stir in the cabbage and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer. Stir occasionally for another 20 minutes or so until cabbage is tender.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

It's after Labor Day which means...cooler nights, pumpkin-flavored-everything and no more wearing white. It's also time to bring out the apple cider, squash and hearty dinners. Look forward to those ingredients being featured in the next few posts.

2 new epically bacon products are out there on the shelves. Friends of mine found the Bacon Tape for me (to go along with the Bacon Duct Tape I buy in bulk) and I ran across the Bacon Rub at my local Wegmans. (Who doesn't love Wegmans!) So keep your eye out. There's always something new out there in the Bacon novelty market.

We had a bonfire on International Bacon Day (the last Saturday before Labor Day). What better way to celebrate than with a huge fire? I made a really cheesy Bacon dip and Cheeseburger Bacon Bombs. Both with my home-made bacon. Both were nothing short of phenom-nom-nom-inal.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

I've been avoiding writing this blog. For weeks. All because I have a confession to make. Sigh. Try not to think less of me....I don't like steak-cut bacon. There. I said it. Sure, it's awesome, a really fat piece of bacon. For some reason though, I prefer a slice of bacon to a slab of bacon. I think it comes down to texture. Part of what I love about bacon is the fact that it's both crispy and chewy. You get a nice combination of some crispy edges and then get to bite softly through the fat. It's a balance that only bacon can master. So thumbs down for me on steak cut bacon, especially in a BLT and not served on a plate with a fork and knife.

This week, my cousin sent me the following picture...

...and while I can get on board with this idea, the thought of greasy bacon trying to hang onto my beer can had me concerned. I know how this is going to end....wouldn't you know a true bacon koozie exists...

A friend from work reccommended this bacon recipe. Warm Potato Salad had me intrigued, especially since the recipe calls for a half pound of cheese and 8 slices of bacon. I made the dish with Maple Bacon I wondered aloud if it would taste better with a different kind of bacon, and my husband piped in and said I better make it again to test it out. I think that's his way of approval, other than the cleaned plate, that is.

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Place a
cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place bacon on cooling rack. Place
in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness.
Remove from the oven and cool. Once completely cooled, crumble the bacon
and set aside.

Combine potatoes, mayonaise, cheese, onion, bacon in a bowl until mix thouroughly. In a baking dish spoon potato mixture in, and then sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Next to Halloween and Christmas, my favorite holiday just occurred. It was the Annual Breast Cancer fundraiser in Williamsville, NY called the BeerBaconBoobs Fest. The food was pretty good, although the food truck I loved last year failed to make it this year. A fantasy to repeat that awesome bacon-stuffed cheeseburger I had goes unsatisfied. The Bacon Toffee makes up for it though. The beer was good, the samples aplenty and the friends and company were great. I'm already looking forward to next year!

In celebration of Shark Week, I think Bacon should have it's own week as well.

I had a big week of bacon. I made 2 dishes with bacon in them. Sometimes I get inspired. What can I say?

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350°F degrees. Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place bacon on cooling rack. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness. Remove from the oven and cool. Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.

Lower oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with crescent roll dough, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon. In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs and cheese. Season the mixture with oregano, and pour over the bacon and crescent rolls.

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place bacon on cooling rack. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness. Remove from the oven and cool. Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.

Combine butter, the sugars, vanilla and pudding mix in large bowl. Beat until creamy. Then beat in eggs. Gradually add flour, soda, chips and bacon. Batter will be stiff. Drop by teaspoonful, about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

I told my husband that I was going to go work out. I changed into my yoga attire and here I sit. Procrastinating. I really do need to add a little cardio in today, to offset the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich (...I devoured only like 2 hours ago, and still could totally eat another one...) I had. Eating the bacon and talking about the bacon are always more fun than working off the bacon.

You may have heard that Bacon is great at fueling the body for a high intensity workout, but did you know that it was not so good for you after a workout? Mens Fitness did a article on what to not eat after a workout, and our porky protein was regarded as a no-no. Check out the full article here.

Separate biscuits into halves horizontally, and then half again, so you have 4 per biscuit. Roll each piece into a ball, and then flatten into a small circle. Place each circle into prepared mini muffin pan. Fill each biscuit tin with the bacon mixture.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Coming off of Vacation mode is hard. I'm thankful for the time I had off (mainly doing things around the house) and for all the extra time I got to spend with bacon, uh, I mean my family! I spent the time off experimenting. Delicious experiments!

While perusing the webs today I found not one,not two, not five, but over a dozen different bacon-themed flip flops. Why shouldn't your little piggies be sporting piggies themselves? Here's my top five favorites:

With epic snack making abilities, comes epic responsibilities. Like always making sure you have awesomely fresh ingredients on hand. This recipe is simple and quick. And delicious! And it used 3 ingredients. Seriously, can this get any easier?

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Looking for a bacon gift? Here's 9 new products you might not know about...check it out.

Looking for something to do on August 2, 2014? Are you in the Buffalo/Rochester area? This is what I'll be up to this year...The Third Annual Beer Bacon Boobs Festival. Tasting of local microbreweries, and food truck upon food truck offering bacon delicacies!

I really love this time of year. With the exception of the heat and humidity, the long summer days are the best. And the food...anything grilled is preferred. What isn't preferred is a cold. In the middle of summer. It's just wrong. On every level. After a week of being under the weather I can finally get on and post about this awesomely devoured dip I made for a fourth of July party I had. It's call Mississippi Sin Dip, and even cold, it was being eaten. There weren't any leftovers...now that's a recipe!

Mississippi Sin Dip
Ingredients
16oz sour cream

8oz cream cheese, softened

2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup chopped cooked bacon

1 green onion, chopped

1/4 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

salt

pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Place a
cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place bacon on cooling rack. Place in the
oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness. Remove from the oven and cool.
Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring until well blended. Spoon mixture into a pie pan or small casserole dish, cover in foil.

Monday, June 30, 2014

And this week in weird bacon news....A woman uses bacon in an arson attempt. Yup. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. Check out the news here.

Welcome to Summer, where it's 85 degrees with 95% humidity. No one wants to be stuck in a hot kitchen. Least of all, Me. I melt. Seriously. There's no un-godly reason it should be this hot. This is an east and relatively quick dessert. Pick up your favorite fruit, like Strawberries and go to town with this Bacon Shortcake!

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Place a
cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place bacon on cooling rack. Place in the
oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness. Remove from the oven and cool.
Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside. Change oven temp to 425°F.

Slice strawberries and mix with 1/4 cup sugar. Set aside.

Mix the Bisquick, 2 tablespoons sugar, milk and chopped bacon together in a bowl with a fork. Do not over mix.

Drop onto a cookies sheet in four equal-sized cakes.

Bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes, until lightly brown.

Split each cake in half, and spoon strawberry slices into the
middle. Top with a few more strawberries and a drizzle of the strawberry and juices, followed by whipped cream.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

I swear to god my cat Mojo looks just like this when begging for bacon in my house...looks like all I'll need now is a Bacon Rug...

I love it when I get posts on facebook regarding new bacon products...this week's winner is Ass Kickin Bacon Ketchup. Giddy up! (Thanks Matt).

As an ultimate bacon consumer I think it's my mission to find these products and share them with you. Mahatma Ghandi once said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." I've had that as my personal email tagline for years actually, and thinking about it, I'd wish to see the world happy. One of the things that makes me happiest is Bacon. So, I'll change the world to happy, one piece of bacon at a time.

Once again, I make it to Saturday, with no idea what I'll be making for this week's blog. A good friend Billy, stopped by yesterday morning, and was telling me all about these loaded salt potatoes that he threw on the grill with bacon and cheese and ranch and even pulled pork. They sounded fantastic, and we were headed to the local public market to get some fresh produce, so this recipe was born. It's a take on Billy's potatoes, and they were fantastic!

For Pulled Pork: You'll want to start your Pork about 6-8 hours (on low) or 4-6 hours (on high) prior to your potatoes. I prefer the crock pot method. Place onion on the bottom of your slow cooker. Place pork shoulder,
trimmed of any obvious excess fat, into slow cooker on top of onions. Pour half of the sauce over the pork and cover. Set remaining sauce aside.

Cook over low heat for about 8 hours (on low) or 4-5 hours (on high). Remove pork to a large bowl and shred with two forks. Transfer meat back
into slow cooker and cook for a few more minutes, until meat has soaked
up the sauce. Pulled pork can be held on the “warm” setting in the slow
cooker for serving.

For Bacon:Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a
cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Place bacon on cooling rack. Place in the
oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until desired crispiness. Remove from the oven and cool.
Once completely cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.

For Potatoes:Wash the potatoes and set aside.
Fill a large pot with water; stir in salt until it no longer dissolves
and settles on the bottom. Place potatoes in the pot and bring to a
boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender but firm, about
15 minutes. Drain. Cool slightly.To assemble this bad boy, you'll take the potatoes and spread them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet. With a potato masher, smash the potatoes. Top with butter. Sprinkle most of the shredded cheese on top and then top with bacon. Place in a warm oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.Serve the pulled pork on top of the potatoes and top with remaining shredded cheese.

Monday, June 16, 2014

I have no funny bacon anecdotes this week. I must be losing my touch...or just preocupied with all of the other things going on around me. Either way, I suckered you into reading another post about Bacon. 1 for Libby.

For Father's Day this year, my husband wanted his Rochester-Favorite, Garbage Plate for his Father's day meal. That got me out of cooking. I couldn't let him down though and not make something with Bacon in it....This is a semi-homemade cupcake recipe. Use a box. Go ahead and cheat! I doctor stuff all the time. Sometimes, you just don't have to do it all the hard way.

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar and the cinnamon. Place bacon on cooling rack and sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon . Turn bacon over and sprinkle on the other side. Save 1/3 of the sugar mixture for the frosting, and set aside. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. (Keep an eye on the bacon as the brown sugar can burn if left unattended.) Remove from the oven and cool. Once completely cooled, slice the bacon in to small slivers or slices. Set aside.

Make the cake batter according to the package directions. When it asks for water, substitute coffee for the water. I used small cupcakes, the mini size. Whatever size cupcakes you are using, line the muffin tin with paper cupcake liners. Spray nonstick spray in each paper. Pour in batter into cupcake liners and fill about 3/4 of the way full.

For 12-24 large cupcakes, cook 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. For 24-48 mini cupcakes, cook 12-14 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool before frosting.

Make Frosting! Open your packaged frosting and in a medium size bowl, slowly blend in reserved brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Frost the cupcakes and top with sliced candied bacon!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

This has been a crazy week. Long hours at work, and not enough hours at home. I'm tired, and cranky. But you know what?... Bacon helps with that! Bacon is
a natural mood enhancer that helps encourage positive mental states. The umami, or savory taste in bacon is an addictive substance
that can have a neurological effect on the brain. A piece of bacon can help enhance mood and reduce stress levels within a short period of time. I guess I just haven't had enough bacon this week...

Want your laundry to smell like Bacon? Mine usually smells like bacon BEFORE I wash it... Sure it's a gag gift, but the joke's on them, I'd actually give it a whirl...Check it out here.

This weeks' recipe I found in a magazine devoted to Bacon, but a las, the recipe didn't have bacon in it...what's a girl to do? Add Bacon, of course.

Directions
For the Bacon: Turn on oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and immediately
place bacon on a broiling pan or cooling rack over a cookie sheet and
bake until bacon is done and crispy. Approx 25 minutes. Remove from
oven and cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

I was watching "Forest Gump" last week and I got to thinking...I'm Bubba. Much like Bubba loved himself some shrimp, I couldn't think of living without Bacon. I must sound like a broken record to my friends and family, but I love the meat candy so much and it is so versatile. I can make anything with bacon. Bacon Brownies, Bacon Bread, Bacon Bourbon, Bacon Pizza, Bacon Eggrolls, Bacon Monkey Bread, Bacon Cookies, Bacon Shrimp, Bacon Meatballs, Bacon Pancakes...the list will keep going...

My AWESOME friend Jan found this sign for me on her last vacation. It will be the first sign in my dream - a bacon business. Love it! Thanks again Jan!

What's missing from the Ice Cream topping market? Are you thinking Bacon Sprinkles?!? Well, this little Dutch Company was, and can you blame them? They have a little kickstarter campaign, check them out....here.

This week's recipe came as a suggestion made by a family member...something along the lines of "....I bet you can add Bacon to these..." Challenge Accepted Scott.

Oreo, Peanut Butter and Bacon Brownie Cupcakes

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place bacon on a broiler pan, or cooling rack over a cookie sheet and cook bacon 15-25 minutes or until desired crispiness. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Quarter each slice of bacon.

Line a 12 muffin cup baker with paper liners.

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. For each
cupcake cup spread 1 teaspoon of peanut butter over 2 Oreo cookies. Place a slice of bacon on top of one of the oreos and then stack the other oreo on top of the bacon. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of brownie batter
over each stacked oreos and let it run down the sides of the cookies. Bake brownies for 18 to 20 minutes, until
brownies are cooked through. Let cool completely then serve.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

After a night out, I ended up at a bar 2 blocks from home. I now know I am in the right neighborhood as I am living with like-minded people. I am sure it wasn't just the beer talking, but the Bacon Dogger sounded fantastic. (I saw this, of course, AFTER I had ordered.) The Rammer (..."I don't even know her") and the Slim Jim (..."that's what she said") also are on my list. I think it's now a little dangerous that I live only 2 blocks away...

Pinterest is a great site that can give you inspiration for a project, recipe, or just about anything you are avoiding work to look at. Bacon Duck Tape exists! Not only does it exist, but I use it (::shock::) whenever I can. I use it in batching up bacon treats for others, when packaging my homemade bacon or any repair around the house. This week I found inspiration on making a Bacon Belt. Huh. I can do that....so I did. Took me less than 10 minutes...Check out the directions here. Now I'll really be cool with my bacon t-shirts and bacon belt (...she tells herself).

When friends visit, I'm obligated to make something new and interesting. However, everything I wanted to make required an ingredient I didn't have, cause low and behold, it was the day before I was going grocery shopping. So this was thrown together, with ingredients I had on hand.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

I hope you all have reasons to celebrate your mothers today. For me, I had a bacon-filled weekend and a wonderful morning full of hand-crafted Kindergarten presents, flowers and a nice dinner to look forward to. Most importantly, it's a dinner I won't have to cook.

I had some great friends come over a couple nights ago for a long-planned game night. I couldn't disappoint them, so I whipped up some Bacon Pull-Apart Bread. They didn't want to disappoint me, and they brought the best Bacon Rice Krispy Treats I have had in a long time. It was a night full of laughs, drinks, card playing, and Bacon. What more could I ask for?

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until cooked but not crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels to drain. Separate biscuits; cut each biscuit into quarters.

In a large bowl, combine the cheese, dressing mix, oil and bacon. Place half of the biscuit pieces in a greased 10-in. fluted tube pan; sprinkle with half of the cheese mixture. Top with remaining biscuit pieces and cheese mixture.

Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Correct me if I am wrong, but companies that claim their product tastes like something, it should actually taste like the flavor they are claiming. It's just another example of the almighty bacon, and it's unending power of luring consumers in. It is my duty, as a patron to all that is Bacon, to make this Public Service Announcement...Pringles Bacon flavored chips, do not, I repeat, DO NOT taste like Bacon!

As you can see, no where in the ever-lengthening list of ingredients does it list bacon of any sort. Coffee is listed, but not delicious meat candy. Fail.

This week's recipe came from a glorious 3/4 pounds of fresh-sliced Italian Herbs Bacon, that came from a local deli. I mentioned it to a friend and fellow baconphile and he suggested Poor Man's Pasta, and walked me through it. I thought it was delicious. And I was picking pieces of crisped bacon out of the bottom of the pan, once it was gone.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, Parmesan, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup of the warm reserved cooking liquid.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to coat.

Transfer the pasta and bacon to the bowl with the egg mixture and toss until the noodles are coated (if the mixture seems dry, stir in additional reserved pasta water 2 Tbsp at a time). Serve immediately and sprinkle with additional Parmesan and pepper, if desired.